THE HIDDEN DIMENSION 
An Examination of Pedestrian Alleyway as a Positive 
Urban Element in the development of inner City area 
M . S c / B . Sc \ " $ 
2 4 JUN 199? 
» 
The d isser tat ion presented to 
The R j c u l t y of archi tecture. 
Universi ty of Mora tuwa, 
Sri Lanka. , 
Tor the M.sc. (Architecture) Examinat ion and . 
Exempt ion f rom RIBA part I! 
D I S S E R T A T I C N / * 
DESIGN 
• / [ ; . 
Lalyn Collure 
June,1997 
7 1 5 8 0 
ABSTRACT 
The actual experience of traversing alleys through 
their highly complex physical configuration c a n only b e 
hinted by belles-lettres. The quality of s p a c e is 
unmatchable with any other purpose m a d e passage 
meant for the pedestrians in the form of side walks, 
pavements, foot paths etc . for being devoid of parked 
cars, traffic lights and batteries of garbage cans, all of 
which w e have c o m e to a c c e p t as attributes of higher 
civilisation. 
An alley to its dweller may b e pictured as his source 
of livelihood and territoriality, to which he belongs as a 
member of a strong social grouping. Allowing it to be taken 
for granted, to the others, an alley is only a transitional 
linking spine connecting public gathering spaces in the 
a b s e n c e of wheeled traffic. In the perspective of a third 
person, it may be an unproductive, functionally obsolete 
lost s p a c e in-between buildings which breed and protect 
the entire crime and notoriety of the city. 
Making allowance for their own law of birth, growth 
and maturity has surfaced problems due to the negl igence 
and failure to recognise them as an asset to the city. The 
necessity for an urban context in which these marvelously 
inventive solutions are viable, therefore awaits 
a c c e p t a n c e . 
i 
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS 
Sincere thanks extended to-
Prof. Nimal De Silva, the Head, Department of Architecture, 
University of Moratuwa, for the inspiration, guidance and 
encouragement given on the study. 
Dr. Ranjith Dayaratne, senior lecturer Department of 
Architecture, for his valuable comments throughout the 
research, 
Archt. Christopher De Saram, Archt. Jeevaka De Soysa for 
their discussions m a d e at various stages, which could b e 
held in high esteem. 
Archt. kapila Dharmasena and Prasanna Liyanage for their 
support and Senaka, Sonali, Sudarshana and Sanath for 
their co-operation, 
Brother Shyamal, for untangling of words and making them 
flow. 
Dear Gayathri for sharing every experience of the study 
with intense enthusiasm and 
Loving mother. 
In addition, to the friendliness and openness readily 
extended by the people within the parameters of research, 
for sharpening my odyssey. 
ii 
CONTENTS 
P a g e 
ABSTRACT i 
ACKNOWLEDGEMENT ii , 
LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS iv 
INTRODUCTION 1 
CHAPTER ONE: The Importance of Organic 
Patterns 7 
1.1 Growth of a City 10 
1.2 The Inner City 11 
1.3 Maze 12 
CHAPTER TWO: Pedestrian Alleyways 15 
2.1 Formation of an Alley 15 
2.2 Alleyway Classified 16 
2.3 Alleyway is not a Pedestrian only 17 
2.4 The People of alleys 18 
2.5 The Changing Faces 20 
2.6 Territoriality, Identity and Privacy 23 
2.7 Crime and Social Order 24 
2.8 The Spatial Experience and 
Perception 26 
2.9 The Visual Space 28 
CHAPTER THREE: The World of Alleys : 
An Appreciative Study 31 
3.1 Socio-cultural Influences 31 
3.2 Environmental Forces and 
Structural imperatives 40 
iii 
> P a g e 
CHAPTER FOUR: Pedestrian Alleyway as a 
Positive Urban Element 46 
4.1 Pedestrian Alleyway as a Resource 47 
4.2 A Strategy for Revitalization 50 
4.2.1 Need for a strategy 51 
4.2.3 The strategy 54 
^ 4.3 The Change of Dimensions 57 
4.4 Workability Synthesis 61 
CHAPTER FIVE: Case Study: Colombo 64 
5.1 Preamble 64 
5.2 Basis for Selection 65 
5.3 Case Studies 
1. Maradana 66 
* 2. Hultsdorf, Pettah 72 
3. Slave Island 79 
DISCUSSION 87 
BIBLIOGRAPHY 90 
iv 
LIST OF ILLUSTRATION 
Page Figure 
1. 'The very idea of walking- beyond the 
necessity of getting to and from one's 
car. or of covering the distance 
from a subway station to office- is 
distasteful'. 2 
2. Characteristics of pedestrian and 
high-speed settings. 9 
3. Planning only one side of a coin 10 
4. Typical secondary street in the 
Eastern urbanity; Lahore, Pakistan. 11 
5. 'Narrow twisted streets, s eem to have 
b e e n traced by lightning, branch off 
. into a hundred and sixty blind alleys, 
resembling corridors of single monolithic 
building.' Martina Franca, Italy. 13 
6. a. Taller enclosing elements b. Width/height 
ratio c. Open to sky component 
d. Relatively low width 15 
7. Thoroughfare 17 
8. Cul-de-sac 17 
9. Various measures are being taken 
to discourage vehicular traffic inside 
an alley, except in an event of emergency 18 
10. A well-scrubbed pavement and the 
a b s e n c e of refuse c a n make the alley 
the nearest thing to a communal room. 20 
11. A cul-de-sac supports all street 
g a m e s providing a d e q u a t e s p a c e and 
character, for children to e n g a g e d in. 21 
12. Side wall 'Altar' 22 
13. Unknown order in the middle of a chaos 23 
14. Individuality and Identity within the context 
of an underlying territoriality. Greece 23 
Figure 
15." c o m e straight through the main gate , 
down the main path and turn into the 
second little gate , the small one with 
blue grill work- you can't miss my door." 
16. " We plunged from the upper city down 
through the strangest passages that ever 
were called streets; some of them. 
Indeed, being arched over, and, going 
down into the unknown darkness, looked 
like caverns; and w e followed one of 
them doubtfully, till it o p e n e d out upon 
the light." 
17. a. Variation in width b. Many turns and 
twists per unit length c. Articulation of 
sub-spaces d. High contrast among 
sub-spaces 
18. 'The s p a c e may strike terror into the 
heart of the urbanite b e c a u s e he 
automatically associates it with 
unspeakable crime. In underdeveloped 
countries, however, such streets are usually 
as safe as a church at high mass. Still, 
although they are taken for granted by 
the natives, to us they seem unreal, 
devoid as they are of sidewalks, traffic 
lights, parked cars, and batteries of g a r b a g e 
cans, all of which w e have c o m e to 
a c c e p t as the attributes of higher 
civilization.' 
19. 'Photographs c a n only hint at the actual, 
experience of traversing passages 
through complicated s p a c e that plays 
on all senses: sheafs of light piercing 
darkness; waves of coolness and warmth; 
the e c h o of one's own footsteps; the 
odor of sun-baked stones. The sum 
of these impressions adds up to an 
esthetic adventure that, modest though 
it is, w e are usually denied.' 
20. Intricate roof-lines demarcate the 
boundaries of 'open-to-sky' 
21. Presence of major projecting elements 
(steps, plinths, doorways, trees etc.) 
Figure Page 
22. Visual punctuations in a series of accretion. 29 
23. Limited lengths of views, h e n c e 
divisions into segments, defined by 
horizontal blocking or by use of angles 
or overlapping planes. 29 
24. Overhead elements 29 
25. The circulation network comprising 
thoroughfares and cul-de-sacs. Medina 
Central, Tunis 32 
26. The thoroughfares and cul-de-sacs of 
Islamic-Arabic cities. 33 
27. 'Marrakesh (Morocco) is the archetype 
of an Islamic town with its 
quadrangular houses organised around 
interior courts. There are no traffic 
arteries to speak of; the cool narrow 
alleys run erratically, like raindrops on a 
windowpane often lead to d e a d ends'. 34 
28. Overlooking: Visual corridors generated 
by openings and heights. 35 
29. Open storm water drain demarcates 
the length of exterior plinth which 
belongs to the house it abuts. 
Rabat, Morocco 35 
30. Related street elements 36 
31. Alternative support systems for 'Sabat' 36 
32. The sequential progression strengthened 
by light and shadow in a throughway alley. 
Also note the different supporting systems 
of Sabat, in Tunis (by walls and 
independent columns). 37 
33. One c a n walk through narrow, winding, 
shady and richly fenestrated streets 
in the bazaar. Lahore, Pakistan 38 
34. The zone of lowest level privacy 
where inhabitant b e c o m e s a nonentity. 
Lahore, Pakistan 39 
vii 
Figure Page 
35. 'On both sides of a pedestrian way and 
in most traditional courtyard houses in Iraq, 
the roof projects externally beyond the first 
floor and this similarly projects beyond the 
ground floor. The result is the formation 
of shaded alleyways'. 40 
36. 'Earthquakes being more violent in G r e e c e 
and Italy than in the rest of Europe, flying 
buttresses are a familiar sight in the streets. 
These arches are often used as 
substructures for additional floors of a 
* building. The result is the floating flat, by 
which I mean the part of a house that 
straddles a street; an apartment 
suspended in mid-air, anchored in 
houses on both sides of a street.' 41 
37. Aside from their function as buffers in 
earthquakes, these buttresses form a 
screen against the glare of the sky. 
Siena, Italy 41 
38. Metal trellis in the Suq at Marrakesh, 
Morocco. 42 
39. Suq (Bazaar) when open and shut, 
4 9
 Tunis. 42 
40. Plan of Suq alley in Arabic-Islamic cities. 42 
41. 'The narrow winding alleys instead c a t c h 
the gentle breeze, even bracing against 
the'stormy blasts'. . 43 
42. The white terraces slope down to the 
sea leaving pathways and alleys 
in-between on Santorini; also known 
as Thera, Greece. 43 
Y 43. 'The liveliness of a city, what makes 
the inner city attractive and also 
economically viable, means lots of peop le 
in a small area' 47 
viii 
Figure Page 
44. As long as these routes are confined 
to the use by limited numbers for whom 
they are known as secret paths, would often 
tend to turn into social vices and 
notoriety spontaneously. 48 
45. Cleaner surfaces such as colour washed 
walls and well-scrubbed pavement 
would improve the quality of an alleyway. 51 
46. Surveillance, in the presence of 
windows opening towards alleyways, 
minimise the threat of crime. 52 
47. A series of steps leading off the main 
path is an indication of a private domain. 53 
48. Commercial alleys in Hong Kong. 54 
49. An alley of pharmacists, and stationers 
in Canton, China. 54 
50. The availability of numerous possible paths 
hinting at further spaces in indirect views, 
deserve enhancing. 56 
51. Use of bends, curves and angles 57 
52. The c h a n g e offers new prospects for 
development under improved conditions 
in either case , (residential and commercial 
environs) 59 
53. Activity Pocket 59 
54. Activity pockets in the residential 
neighbourhood. 60 
55. A stranger in an alleyway may slower the 
p a c e in the approach of a pocket, at a 
swell created in a junction of several paths. 61 
56. City of Colombo and the three se lected 
areas of study. 66 
57. North of Maradana, bordered by 
Maradana and Panchikawatte roads. 67 
I X 
Figure Page 
58. Between main arteries, alleys run d e e p 
into the inner parts of the city. 68 
59. Informal sector employees of Maradan 68 
60. Supportive other activities among 
specialised trade. 69 1 
61. Topographical variations experienced 
in Panchikawatte road and Mohideen 
Musjid road. 70 
62. A throughway alley connecting 
Panchikawatte road and Mohideen 
Masjid road. 71 
63. "We Specialise in Motor Cycle Spare Parts" 71 
64. A c h a n g e in land-use may appear with a 
tea kiosk. 72 
65. Urban blocks in Hultsdorf, east of Pettah. 73 
66. Street houses of Messenger Street. 74 
67. The commercial street f a c a d e , Hultsdorf. 74 
68. Alleys full of day-to-day life. 75 
69. Informal sector employee at Hultsdorf. 76 
70. Vaulted entrance at the threshold 
of a neighbourhood. 77 
71. Bathing places and toilets are often 
located at the end of the cul-de-sac. 78 
72. Children are seen hang around in the 
streets, where they are forced to c o m e , 
in search of openness. 78 
73. Inner city residential zones. 79 
74. The node of Slave Island is a main traffic 
convergent point in the city. 80 
75. Row houses opening onto narrow alleyways. 81 
76. People and their activity. 82 
Figure Page 
xi 
77. Colonial buildings encircling the residential 
enclaves. 82 
78. 'All Motor cars. Omnibuses, Lorries and 
bullock carts prohibited* 
By order; Municipal commissioner, Colombo. 83 
79.'Spring 84. 
80. Shrine in an alley 85 
81. Directional guidance by distant 
landmarks- e.g. 'Rakshana Mandiraya'. 85 
82. The n e e d for regulations to 
build-in-alleyways. 86 
References 
I.Hall, EdwardT. (1966) 
2. Persig, Robert M.( 1974) 
3. Rudofsky, Bernard (1969) 
The Silent Language 
New York: Doubleday 
Zen and The Art of 
Motorcycle Maintenance 
London: Vintage 
Streets of People 
New York: Doubleday & 
Company, Inc. 
4. Sussman, Aaron & 
Goode , Ruth (1967) 
The Magic of Walking 
New York: Simon and 
Schuster